A/N:I'll just leave this here :)

Chapter 12

The party was in full swing at the large barn near the center of Bonneville. As she walked into the barn and marveled at the abundance of streamers, Jessie heard her name just before someone caught her up in a fierce hug. She laughed, "Howdy, Trixie."

"Isn't this great? So many of the townsfolk have come. Rex is here, of course, and Hamm; the Potanskis and just about everyone else you know! You look nice, by the way."

"Thanks. Sorry I couldn't wear a dress," she grinned, her green eyes glinting with mischief.

Trixie laughed, her curly hair bobbing as she did. "Sheriff Woody explained you couldn't. Someday we'll catch you in one."

"When I'm dead!" Jessie bit her lip and grimaced, but relaxed when she heard her friend laugh. "So when does the dancing get started?"

"Oh! I need to go make sure Slink and the rest of his group are ready. Enjoy yourself, okay, even if you are working." Trixie hurried off.

Jessie turned a circle, taking in the barn. The center had been cleared out for dancing and there were straw bales set around the perimeter to serve as seats. Ken had brought in several tables that were already laden with food and drink provided by the townspeople. A wooden platform was set up along the back wall and Jessie watched the musicians getting themselves ready for the evening. The mood was jovial and contagious. As the music started, the dance area filled quickly with groups of four as Rex called the square dances. Jessie leaned back against the wall, her foot tapping to the music.

"Miss Jessie! Miss Jessie!" came the cry of little voices.

She grinned widely as the three green-clad Pearson triplets came running over to her and tackled her in hugs. "Well, howdy you three! Isn't it past your bedtime?" she teased.

"Not tonight!" answered Beatrice, the eldest of the three. "Can you come dance with us? We need a fourth person and no one else will!"

"A fourth? Usually it's eight people, y'know."

"We know, we know," answered Penelope. "But we can just pretend to have partners! Please?"

"Well…" she drew out her answer, watching as they leaned in with anxious faces. "Okay. Let's go show 'em how it's done!"

Jessie and the triplets joined in the fast-paced dance already in progress. She laughed as they whirled around, promenading and at times making up their own moves. At one point, she lifted Beatrice into the air and spun her until they were both dizzy. When the dance ended she escaped to an empty straw bale where she collapsed to catch her breath.

"Excuse me, ma'am. You look like you could use a drink." A hand held a cup of punch out to her.

Jessie jumped up in delight and wrapped her arms around Buzz in a fierce hug. "What in tarnation are you doin' here?"

He grinned at her, "Mira's finished her scans, and Nebula was so pleased with our progress that he gave everyone a night's respite. Mira would have come, but Booster couldn't, so she stayed to keep him company. I think Nebula's out at the ranch to update Woody, and I thought I'd see what barn dances were all about."

She took the offered cup and drank it down quickly. "When did you get here? I didn't see you come in."

"You were too busy dancing with those kids. Which, I might add, was very enjoyable to watch. What sort of dance was it?"

"It's square dancin', although we were taking a few liberties. Usually you have eight people, divided up into four couples. There's someone who calls out what moves you do; stuff like 'bow to your corner', which is when you bow to the person opposite you. Sometimes it's fast, sometimes not. It's pretty easy to catch on."

He took her hand in his, "Show me?"

"I dunno, Buzz…" Jessie bit her lip. "I mean, I am s'pposed to be working."

"Jessie, I don't think all hell is going to break loose just because you showed me a dance." He smiled softly at her, "Please?"

She laughed, "Jus' because that worked with the triplets doesn't mean it'll work for you." She relented as he made an attempt at puppy-dog eyes. "Okay, okay. C'mon, Space Boy. But don't say I didn't warn ya."

The dance lasted until just before midnight, its music and merriment spilling out of the barn doors and into the otherwise silent streets. Jessie and Buzz had joined in on several dances over the remainder of the evening, and the cowgirl smiled contentedly as she knew the space ranger was truly enjoying himself. She had never seen him in social settings and she jokingly said he had been holding back on her. "I never even knew you could dance, and I've known you for a long time!"

He chuckled, "Well, there aren't too many opportunities to dance when you're mucking out stalls."

Trixie found Jessie as everyone was helping to clean up, "Thanks again, Jessie. Glad you had a good time," she smiled at her and Buzz. "Tell the sheriff we missed him."

"I'll do that," Jessie returned the smile. "You sure you're okay cleanin' up?"

"Yup! It's almost done and you've done your duty. You two have a good night!"

Jessie untied Bulleye's reins from the hitching post and smiled at Buzz, "So? Did your first barn dance live up to your expectations?"

"Exceeded them. I think the dance partner helped," he smiled tenderly at her, and wrapped an arm around her shoulders.

"Don't you need to get back to your ship?"

"Not before I walk you home." He began leading her out of town.

"Buzz!" she laughed, "I've made this trip thousands of times."

"Yes, but not with me. Or are you that anxious to be rid of me?"

"No," she leaned her head on his shoulder and placed her free hand around his waist. "Definitely not."

They walked slowly back toward the farmhouse, hand in hand under the star-filled sky, neither of them speaking, nor wanting to speak. After so many years of wishing and wanting after each other, the simple touch of a hand or shared glance said enough.

About a half of a mile out of town, Jessie turned and looked behind them as the pounding of hooves and a voice calling her name reached her ears. Slink, the town's doctor, skidded to a stop as he reached them. Jessie dropped her hand from Buzz's, "Slink? What is it?"

"Fire; back in town, at the barn. It's pretty bad."

Jessie looked back towards Bonneville and, even at that distance, could see the glow from the flames. She turned back to Buzz, pressing Bullseye's reins into his hand. "Take Bullseye back to the house and get Woody. Come back with him if you can, we'll probably need the help."

"Jess," he caught her arm, his voice anxious. "Just… just be careful, okay?"

She gave him a small smile, "I'll be fine, don't worry." She hurried over to Slink, taking the hand he offered to help her in to the saddle behind him.

Buzz watched the ride away for a brief moment before climbing into Bullseye's saddle and urged the horse into a fast gallop. He jumped off at the front porch and burst through the door before the horse had fully stopped. "Woody! Woo-" he stopped short as both Woody and Nebula rushed out of the study. "Sir!" he hastily saluted, "I didn't know you were still here."

"At ease, Captain."

"What is it? What's the matter? Where's Jessie?" Woody's voice overlapped Nebula's.

"There's a fire in town. Slink caught up with us as we were walking back. Jessie went back with him and sent me here."

Woody grabbed his hat from the stand by the door, "C'mon, we'd better hurry. If any fire gets out of control, the whole place could go."

"Can I be of any help, Sheriff?" Nebula asked, following Woody and Buzz out of the house.

"I'd be grateful if you did. Let me get Buttercup saddled up."

"How did the fire start, Slink?" Jessie asked as they raced back to Bonneville, the glow growing brighter.

"No one's sure. Everyone had left, wasn't ten minutes or so before Ken caught sight of it and roused the alarm."

They galloped into town and Jessie quickly slid off of the horse. People were running all over, including children whose parents were trying to help fight the fire. Jessie looked around, "Dolly!" She shouted to the young school teacher. "Gather up the kids and keep them somewhere safe. Don't let them near the barn or go to their parents! Hamm!" She grabbed his arm as he ran past on his way to the barn, "Get the bucket brigade started. We'll need all the hands we can get!"

"You got it!"

Jessie jumped in to the crowd by the barn, running back and forth to help wherever it was needed. The urgent fear of the nearby buildings had subsided and the flames were contained when movement beyond the barn caught her eye. She thought she saw the shadow of a person running toward the still-burning barn. She took off after them, slowing as she rounded the corner, "Wait! It's not…safe." She stopped as she saw no one. That's strange. Maybe it was just a trick of light. She was a yard away from the barn when she was knocked off her feet as the building exploded into the night air. The bright light showed the desert floor rushing towards her, and then everything was lost to darkness.

Woody, Buzz, and Nebula arrived in town and were greeted with a chaotic scene. The fire was contained to the barn, but the entire building was unsalvagable. The front end was still somewhat intact, but the walls were almost gone; what jagged edges remained still glowed with smoldering embers. Townsfolk were running around, emptying buckets of water as soon as they were filled. Woody caught Dolly as she was helping to keep any children out of harm's way. "Dolly! What happened?"

"I don't know, Sheriff. We had finished cleaning up, the barn was dark; next thing we knew it was on fire. We've been trying to keep it to the barn, but you know how dry it's been."

He nodded, "Have you seen Jessie?"

She shook her head, "Not for a while, but it's been hard enough keeping track of the kids. Sorry."

"It's okay. Take the kids down to the jailhouse. Even if the fire catches, it will still be safe for a while since it's far enough away."

"Thanks, Woody." She began forming the children into a line to get them to safety.

Woody turned to Buzz and Nebula and opened his mouth to say something when an explosion rocked the air. He lowered the arm he raised to protect his face and stared at where the barn used to be. Pieces of wood were still falling from the sky and, with a quick glance at the Space Rangers, he ran over to the scene.

Buzz was about to follow when Nebula restrained him, "A moment, Captain. Doesn't something about this seem familiar to you?"

He looked between his commander and the barn and nodded. "You think…?"

"The scatter pattern of the explosion is just a little too similar to what we've seen from Zurg." He pulled a small device from the civilian pants he had fortunately changed in to to visit Woody. He carefully scanned the air around what used to be the barn, keeping the scanner hidden from plain sight. He punched in some data and then used a small communicator to contact Mira. "Nova? Sorry to interrupt your respite, but I'm sending you some scans." He filled her in on the situation, "I have my suspicions we're dealing with an ion bomb. Let me know as soon as you have the results." He snapped the communicator closed and nodded towards the barn, "Come on, let's help out where we can."

As the barn was counted a loss, much of the effort was now concentrated on the surrounding buildings. The explosion sent pieces of burning rubble on to the roofs of nearby businesses or houses. Woody organized several groups to douse any flames. Order replaced chaos and the frantic pace slowed to a cautious calm. Nebula was standing off to the side, having just been replaced by one of the townspeople when his communicator chirped. He moved away from the crowd, "Nebula here."

"Sir, it's Mira. I have your results. You're right, there are ionic particles all over the place."

"Ten-four. Looks like our break is over. Get those scans finalized; I'll be bringing the Sheriff and Buzz back with me. We're finding this scout tonight."

"Understood, sir. Nova out."

Nebula found Woody, "Sheriff, a word?"

"What is it, Marshal?"

He was taken aback for a moment before recalling the cover story Woody created when they hurried to Bonneville; he was supposed to be a U.S. Marshal looking for a criminal. He had to give the sheriff credit, it certainly worked well. "Sorry, but from what I've seen, this matches the suspect we're looking for. I think we need to head back to my camp."

Woody nodded, "Shouldn't be a problem. Trixie! Rex!" he called to the couple. "Think you can get everything finished up here?"

Trixie nodded, "Sure thing! What's going on?"

"The Marshal here thinks the explosion matches the work of a suspect they're after. He needs me to come back to his camp. Have you seen Jess, by chance?"

Both Rex and Trixie shook their heads, "Sorry, Woody. She's probably around somewhere. If we see her, do you want us to let her know where you've gone?"

He nodded, "Please. Just tell her I'm with the Marshal and his Captain at their camp. She'll know where to find us." He felt uneasy leaving without having seen his sister, but he told himself she was fine and that it was just the instability of the night's events. He and Nebula found Buzz and updated him on Mira's news. Together they left for the ship, the night's events and adrenaline fueling them.

Jessie groaned softly and winced against the ringing sound that still filled her ears. She was groggy, but lifted her head, willing her eyes to open. They snapped open as she tried to bring her hand up to her face and found that she could not move it. She realized she was seated in a chair with her hands bound behind her and to the back of the wooden chair, her legs tied to the legs of the chair. She looked around and in the dim light she could make out that she was in an old mine shaft, particularly in the lift. She thought back to the last thing she remembered; there was the fire, the shadow, the explosion, and then… nothing.

She tugged at her bindings, but gave up after a few minutes when it became clear the rope would not give way. Why was she there and where, for that matter, was she? She tried to think of who would be behind her kidnapping, but none of the outlaws she and Woody dealt with came to mind; they were either apprehended or dead. She did not have to wait long for the answer as the sudden movement caught her eye as her captor came in to view.

He was young, perhaps a few years older than she, but he looked older. He had shaggy sandy blonde hair that was in need of a cut, and he sported scruff that suggested it had been several days since he last shaved. His clothes were well worn, as if he had no other, and they hung loosely on his underfed frame. Jessie noticed a strange firearm at his hip and looked up to find his blue eyes studying her. She swallowed hard, unconsciously pressing herself against the chair. The smile that crossed his face was almost hollow but there was something familiar about it that nagged at Jessie. She had not yet figured it out when he spoke, "Hello, Red."

Her eyes narrowed for a few minutes and then widened in disbelief, "Andy?"